Long awaited helmet light progress...

Body is a bit smaller than my thumb. Should be around 1350 real world lumens. I still need to groove the base for some mounting rings. Then I'll order my electronics when he gets the new version ready.

Thx...I got my drill press set back up so I can do my make-shift-milling. Still can't begin any new projects unless I get a rotary table or a lathe. that flat-bottom-hole is essential. I already have a battery built up and a switch. I don't know why I've waited so long to finish this one, but meh.

Here's the light engine I'm planning on from Serge at lux-rc.com (it looks big in the pic, but it's as small as my thumbnail)

The beam should actually be considerably brighter than my old design below. The old one is using XP-E emitters which put out around 850-900lm if I remember right. I'm expecting it to appear 30% brighter.

Recently started riding the MTB at night. Got a Minewt mini 350. Adequate.....for now

Those are actually pretty slick and capable. The main thing with cra-Z home brew is that you can shred just as fast at night as you can in the daylight. If you're wanting to just traverse trail and explore...there are tons of really nice factory options for a decent price. The Minewt being a good example. AYup's are decent too. The other thing is...if you ride solo in really dark forest, your eyes adjust and you don't need as much light. If you ride with somebody blasting 1000lm and you're trying to ride with 400...you're going to feel sketchy.

It might be on someone's silly list but it's not on the master Kill this Phrase Dead Today list by any means. First, because 66 said it; and secondly, because the phrase it just . . . well . . . the schizz.

Back on topic. Ed, I should probably just PM you about this but I'll hang my ignorance out there for all to snicker at:

Ran across this: http://www.focalprice.com/LFD91S/CRE...le_Silver.html
Cree 1,300 lumen emiter-and-reflector and was wondering if I could drop something like these into my tired little CygoLite housing and amp things up a bit - - or am I going to run into heat-disappation problems? And is the claimed lm realistic? Seems like a lot of power for the price.

It might be on someone's silly list but it's not on the master Kill this Phrase Dead Today list by any means. First, because 66 said it; and secondly, because the phrase it just . . . well . . . the schizz.

Back on topic. Ed, I should probably just PM you about this but I'll hang my ignorance out there for all to snicker at:

Ran across this: http://www.focalprice.com/LFD91S/CRE...le_Silver.html
Cree 1,300 lumen emiter-and-reflector and was wondering if I could drop something like these into my tired little CygoLite housing and amp things up a bit - - or am I going to run into heat-disappation problems? And is the claimed lm realistic? Seems like a lot of power for the price.

SST-50's and SST-90's aren't very efficient. If you run them bright enough to do any good, they're gonna gen some heat. A P60 drop in module like that needs to have good contact from the body to the walls of an aluminum host to move the heat. You could "under amp" it and make it run cooler, but it would be dimmer. SSTs are pretty old school.

I'd look more into a Cree XM-L if you're going to go with a drop in type setup. Put some thermal paste (thin) around it, smash some aluminum foil in to take up space. Spread more thermal paste on the OS of the foil where it contacts the aluminum host. El34 over at the other place has a website where he will "somewhat" tell you how to mod SSC p7 LED's into an old Marwi housing. He has hundreds of old Marwi housings and parts he's trying to sell.

His new venture is modding the Cree XM-L into them. It's a little more efficient and usable beam patter than the older P7.

Rule of thumb: Don't over amp an LED.You need a driver to regulate the amperage to the emitter from the battery.

Don't go over 3amps on the XM-L. If you're running a drop in, I'd probably go 1.5-2 to keep the heat down. Heat will destroy the LED.

My first "mod" was a single P7 pushed at a true 2.8amps. Most of these little torches from DX and Kaidomain are really only running half that b/c of cheap electronics. You can get some riding done with a single P7 properly built. I still own that one. Klunky, but still dear to my heart.

The one I'm working on right now is probably going to be either a triple XP-G setup or a high efficiency triple XP-E setup. The "E" will give me a longer throw with a tighter hot spot. The "G" will be floodier. I'm leaning toward throw for this one.

I actually just got a P60 Drop-In recently with an XM-L for my EDC flashlight body. I'm really liking it. It's amazing for such a tiny emitter. It's so freakin' efficient too for the amount of light it's putting out.

Ran across this: http://www.focalprice.com/LFD91S/CRE...le_Silver.html
Cree 1,300 lumen emiter-and-reflector and was wondering if I could drop something like these into my tired little CygoLite housing and amp things up a bit - - or am I going to run into heat-disappation problems? And is the claimed lm realistic? Seems like a lot of power for the price.

A. CREE is not the manufacturer of the SST-50, that would be Luminous
B. Cree's most powerful emitter, an XM-L U2, tops out around 1100 lumens
C. An actual SST-50 driven to 1300LM would, in a 100% efficient world, drain an 18650 battery in under 40 minutes.